Truly Trivial: Who was the original Aragorn in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings?

Image via Moviefone

Great movies are a product of a special, unpredictable alchemy between actors, directors, screenwriters, editors and a public ready and willing to receive a story. This is doubly so for geek films, which is why many movie nerds still say a silent prayer of thanks that Nick Nolte didn't get cast as Han Solo in Star Wars. (Patton Oswalt being the exception that proves this rule.)

The truth is, there are many such spine-chilling near misses in geek cinematic history, to the point that imagining "What If Casting (or Directing) Were Different?" has become a meme and industry unto itself. Richard "Lethal Weapon" Donner directed the first two modern Superman films, but betwixt Superman: The Movie and Superman II, he had a falling out with the studio. Thus Richard Lester was brought in to reshoot the sequel just enough to screw Donner out of a directing credit (and also edit the expensive Marlon Brando out of the film). Not to worry, Superman II: The Donner Cut is available to undo this nerd cinema wrong.

Eric Stoltz was also famously the original lead in Back to the Future, but was replaced part way through principle photography. While there isn't a "Stoltz Cut" of BttF, this well known revamp did earn a glaring geek in-joke in a recent episode of Fringe, in which we visit an alternate universe where the recast never happened.

What's even more intriguing about the Back to the Future casting tweak is that Stoltz wasn't even the original choice. Producer Steven Spielberg originally wanted Ralph "Karate Kid" Macchio to be Marty McFly. On a similar note, Will Smith was envisioned as the original Neo in The Matrix, and Russell Crowe was Peter Jackson's first choice for Aragorn in Lord of the Rings. While Jackson didn't actually cast Crowe, he did pull a Stoltz-esque switch and fire his original Aragorn just before principle LOTR photography in favor of Viggo Mortensen.

Who was the original Aragorn in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy?

Nerd Word of the Week: Conlang

Conlang flag - Image via Wikipedia

Conlang (n.) - Slang term for constructed language, which is a language created for a specific purpose rather than one that evolves naturally from consensual public usage. Conlangs are often created for use in fictional settings, with classic examples including Tolkien's Elvish from the Lord of the Rings book series, or Star Trek's Klingon, created by linguist Marc Okrand. There are, however, conlangers -- creators and consumers of constructed languages -- that develop these fictional tongues strictly for amusement, separate from any attachment to a book, television, or movie series. Some geeks use conlangs to flesh out their favorite fictional worlds, and some conlangers are just fake language geeks.

I bring it up because: HBO has commissioned a conlang of the Dothraki language for its miniseries adaptation of George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire book series. Just chalk it up as yet another concession to the too-passionate-to-be ignored geek demographic.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Forget About Fantasy In HBO's Games Of Thrones TV Show [Genre Embarrassment] (io9.com)
• Tweet in Klingon - Star Trek fans, tweet your Klingon phrases! (twi5.com)
• Parlez-vous Na'Vi? (telegraph.co.uk)

Truly Trivial: What sci-fi novel coined the phrase 'computer worm?'

Image via Wikipedia

Once again, I am overburdened by day jobbery and must resort to recycling one of my old TechRepublic Geek Trivia posts for this week's Truly Trivial column. Don't worry; it's timely. Twenty-six years ago today, the computer virus was born. Twenty one years ago last week, perhaps the most famous computer worm ever, the Morris Worm, was launched. Which brings me to my original article:

The effects of the Morris Worm were so widespread and pronounced that it made the national news (quite a feat in 1988), and it eventually earned Morris a landmark if decidedly unintimidating conviction: Three years' probation, 400 hours of community service, and a $10,050 fine. In geek circles, people sometimes referred to the Morris Worm as the Great Worm, a reference to the Great Worms (i.e., dragons) found in J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series.

This, of course, was not why we called Morris' creation a worm, as these types of malicious programs (distinct from computer viruses) owe their etymology to a work of science fiction, rather than fantasy.

WHAT WORK OF SCIENCE FICTION COINED THE TERM COMPUTER WORM?

You can find the complete original Q&A here.

Related articles by Zemanta

• The Most Damaging Computer Viruses in History (neatorama.com)
• First iPhone Worm Targets Jailbroken iPhones [WARNING] (mashable.com)